Sons of Anarchy: "Booster"

Season 4, Episode 2

The cons of playing a long game

“I love you brother, but I love this club more.”

-Bobby

Kurt Sutter has gone on record as saying that he plans for Sons of Anarchy to last for seven seasons. I don’t know if this means that he has a specific game plan, or if he just sees it as a show that is going to last that long, but he might want to rethink that goal and shorten up the show a bit. FX has always been good about letting show runners end their series whenever it makes the best creative sense, and given the corner that the show has backed itself into, he might want to consider that out.

After meeting with the Galindo Cartel in a scrap yard, Clay and Jax have more than a few words about their respective future in and out of the club. Towards the end, Jax says that he will give Clay one year to shore up his drug-fueled retirement account, and then he wants to be out. But exactly how long is a year, in terms of seasons? Though seasons one, two and three took place over just a few months, there was a large break between three and four to jump the prison sentence narrative, as well as to catch the characters up with real time. So even if seasons four through seven cover a relatively short period of time (which would once again throw off the show’s pacing), it would still just be four seasons of the audience waiting for Jax to quit, and the writers trying to fill the time by giving the character something to do. But even if the events of the next four season do take place over more than one year, then it would require Jax to get too involved to be able to quit, and then want to quit again later, with a possible repetition of this cycle.  While Jax getting too in over his head to quite makes logical sense for the character and his surroundings, it does cause the audience to get fatigued from watching him get jerked in two alternating directions as required by the story.

I wish this was the only long-term concern that shadowed over this episode, but the truth is that I can’t exactly get over the fact that this was another table-setter after a season premiere that served roughly the same function. Like I said last week, I understand that Kurt Sutter and Co. are still trying to pilot the show out of the dive that was the third season, and I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as they try to reset everything. What made season two so good (in part) was that there was equal pressure both inside and outside of the club, and I sense that the show is trying to return to that status quo. (Normally I’d winge about how repeating this format season after season could get old, but The Shield, where Sutter cut his teeth, did essentially that, and it always seemed to work out.)  But that still doesn’t change the fact that this episode wasn’t nearly as engrossing as past episodes have been, and it feels lesser for that.

But I would be hard-pressed to say that I hated this episode, or that I didn’t like most of it, even if it seems to represent problem or potential problems with the season at large. (In fact, that’s more or less how I felt about season 3, as it took a while for the long-term problems to really grab hold. That’s probably why I’m so skeptical now. You’ve got to earn my trust back, Sons.) As a one-n-done, the idea of the Jax and Opie getting held hostage works well, and it helps to flesh out the new position in with the Sons find themselves. Given how long the Sons have been away from the world of Charming, it’s helpful for the viewers to know that things have changed, and to see what those changes are. (Plus, it’s hard to argue with any change that brings Danny Trejo into the mix.)

Speaking of changes, while the new element that seems destined to tear the Sons apart – the coke deal with the Galindos – feels like a bit of a retread to Donna’s death, there is an important distinction the show is making. While Donna’s death was a secret, a cancer slowly killing the club, a controversial alliance is more like giardia: obvious and quickly upsetting everybody. The fact that this element is so open, that Clay would make such a bold move and that it’s pissing everybody off, tells us more about the state of the club than any one person’s words might. Jax was right: there is no more trust or brotherhood holding the club together; only fear.

But what holds the most interest for me now are the current fringe elements of the plot that are clearly going to develop as time goes on to the point where they represent a huge obstacle for the MC. The first of these, it what feels like yet another obvious throwback to seasons past, sees the reemergence not only of John Teller via Maureen’s letters, but the return to the mystery of who killed him and (more importantly) how and why. While we already have it mostly figured out (Clay and Gemma are somehow involved), I enjoyed that they brought Unser in on the conspiracy, implying that it’s bigger than we originally thought, and the final reveal will hopefully be worth the wait.

The other fringe element examined – in yet another case of “the closing minutes convinced me there’s still a reason to keep watching” effect – was Roosevelt, one of the club’s new adversaries who unfortunately was short shifted in the premiere.  Watching him attack the clubhouse with an axe seems to indicate that there’s a much more volatile man under that calm exterior, and knowing that he can snap at any moment makes him a scary opponent for the Sons. The downside of all of this is that it highlights the fact that we still know very little about Ray McKinnon’s Lincoln Potter, other than the fact that he apparently enjoys chocolate milk, and seeing as how crucial he seems to the season, that’s something that should be cleared up sooner rather than later. Like I said before, I’m willing to give the show time to tell the story correctly, but there currently moving at a first-season pace with a fourth season story. We should be rocketing off already, and waiting until midseason to get to that point just isn’t going to cut it.

Quotes, Etc:

In addition to Danny Trejo, we also has Benito Martinez playing his second-in-command. Martinez played David Aceveda on The Shield, making him the fourth actor from that show (after Jay Karnes, Kenny Johnson, and David Rees Snell) to appear on SOA, thus raising the question of who Kurt Sutter’s going to ask a favor of next. Sepinwall’s already called CCH Pounder, but I can’t shake the feeling that Michael Chiklis doesn’t have a whole lot going on.

Clay, on John letters: “It’s probably love letters, half-gay poems or some shit.”

“He takes his girl-on-girl very seriously.” “Well we wouldn’t want to upset the Prince of Labia.”

“Good morning.” “Not if you’re Russian.”

“When’s the last time you rode this thing.” “I think I had hair.”

“I don’t speak Russian, but I’m pretty sure they’re pissed off about their guns.”

“I should have just stayed in bed with my wife, the porn star.”

“Who is this?” “It’s a Mexican guy and a Mexican guy.”